Chen Zhuo took notes conscientiously.
This was his school assignment, after all. It had a direct bearing on whether he could graduate, so it was rather important.
A moment later, the boy opened his eyes, clenched his fists, and beamed with excitement!
The second layer of Qi Refining!
The instant his eyes opened, the boy blurted out, "Senior, the quality of your pill is magnificent! After taking it, I felt completely refreshed, and my cultivation surged! It easily qualifies as mid-grade!"
The youth was flushed with excitement, almost moved to tears of gratitude.
He had assumed that being a test subject meant the pill would be of poor quality, and that he would have to lie in bed for ten days to a fortnight before he could even move around again. He had never dreamed that half a day's rest would be plenty.
This could hardly even be called a low-grade Qi Condensation Pill. It was surely a mid-grade one!
At Jishi Hall, something like this would sell for at least thirty spirit stones! Yet he had bought such a fine pill for a mere eight spirit stones.
Was this senior here on a charity mission?
Chen Zhuo: ???
Chen Zhuo fell into stunned silence.
What on earth? Wasn't this a waste pill?
After a moment's silence, realization dawned on him.
To the world of the Immortal Mansion, a pill tainted with pill toxins was indeed a bona fide waste pill. But to the ancient cultivation world, this was just everyday fare!
Pausing for a beat, Chen Zhuo asked, "After swallowing it just now, did you feel anything unusual?"
"Nothing unusual at all, Senior." The boy cupped his hands respectfully. "It was brimming with spiritual energy and had a sweet aftertaste—a truly superior pill."
Hearing this, Chen Zhuo felt an onset of mental exhaustion.
This was bad. If judged by this boy's standards, everything was completely normal, so he genuinely hadn't detected anything amiss.
Left with no other choice, Chen Zhuo could only instruct him, "Then describe everything you felt, from the moment you swallowed it to the end."
There was no way around it; Chen Zhuo would have to interpret and record the details himself.
The youth was thoroughly earnest. After jogging his memory, he immediately recounted all of his physical sensations after consuming the pill.
"After taking Senior's Qi Condensation Pill just now, I first felt a surge of heat in my dantian..."
Chen Zhuo stood by, editing and refining as he took down the boy's description, finally completing his log.
Putting down his notes, Chen Zhuo let out a long sigh.
He had no idea whether this would pass muster.
With that thought, he couldn't help glancing at the boy once more before asking, "What is your name?"
The boy hastily clasped his hands. "This junior is Li Changqing, and this is my younger sister, Li Yao."
Saying that, Li Changqing gestured toward the timid little girl on the bed.
Only then did she dare poke most of her upper body out from under the quilts, bowing timidly to Chen Zhuo. "Li Yao greets Senior."
Chen Zhuo: ...
What a classic name.
Could he be some kind of 'Child of Destiny'?
Chen Zhuo mused inwardly. Then again, considering the boy had crossed paths with him, maybe he really was favored by fate!
"Alright. Next time I test a pill, I will come find you here. Make sure you have enough spirit stones saved."
With that, Chen Zhuo waved a hand and, without another word, turned and walked out of the wooden cabin.
Seeing him emerge, the mortal martial artists outside hastily parted to make way.
Ignoring them, Chen Zhuo headed straight for the shantytown's marketplace.
The market was even more bustling than he had imagined, packed with a wide variety of goods.
Chen Zhuo strolled along, quietly taking note of the prices.
"Low-grade Qi Gathering Powder, eighteen spirit stones!"
"Demon beast pelt, completely intact, fifteen spirit stones!"
"Talisman paper, finest talisman paper! Five sheets for one spirit stone!"
...
Hearing that last shout, Chen Zhuo froze in his tracks.
Wait, talisman paper?!
Chen Zhuo stepped up to the stall selling talisman paper.
"Fellow Daoist looking for talisman paper? All my sheets are top-quality—five sheets for one spirit stone!" The stallkeeper, an old man at the third layer of Qi Refining, lazily lifted his eyelids as Chen Zhuo approached. "If you want talisman paper made from three-hundred-year-old spirit bamboo, that'll be one spirit stone a sheet!"
Chen Zhuo picked up a sheet to examine it.
Though the texture was coarse and lacked the refined craftsmanship of the Immortal Mansion's talisman paper, its spiritual energy was extraordinarily rich! Rich enough to more than make up for the rough texture.
It was common knowledge that talisman paper was crafted from spirit bamboo through a complex process. In the Immortal Mansion, spiritual energy had waned. There was no extra land to cultivate spiritual plants, making the cost of production exorbitant; most talisman paper sold on ordinary days was crafted from spirit bamboo artificially matured over three to five years.
Yet here in this ancient cultivation world, even a roadside stall sold paper made from bamboo at least fifty years old!
Furthermore, back in the Immortal Mansion, a single sheet of talisman paper cost twenty to thirty spirit coins—equivalent to two or three physical spirit stones!
Yet here...
Five sheets for a physical spirit stone might be ordinary quality, but one spirit stone for a sheet made of three-hundred-year spirit bamboo was an absolute steal!
Though his heart leaped, Chen Zhuo maintained an impassive expression and merely asked, "What about cinnabar?"
"Got cinnabar too. Three spirit stones a bottle." The old man pointed toward several small porcelain vials beside him.
Chen Zhuo did the math. If he bought basic materials like talisman paper and cinnabar here and brought them back to resell in the Immortal Mansion, he could probably turn quite a profit on the price difference.
Raw materials like iron ore were certainly worth more, but there was no safe way to offload them. After all, privately trading talisman paper was easy enough to explain away if caught. But illicitly dealing in controlled goods crossed a dangerous line—it was all too easy to be charged with the crime of trafficking controlled materials of the Immortal Mansion and exiled to the mines.
*Sigh. Entering a mountain of treasures only to pluck weeds along the perimeter—how frustrating,* Chen Zhuo lamented inwardly, continuing his stroll.
He needed to compare prices across different vendors. At the same time, he could see what other basic materials were available to help him become a proper reseller. With limited starting capital, Chen Zhuo had to budget carefully and pick materials with the best value for money. Slow and steady was the way to go.
Yet after making a round, Chen Zhuo realized that with his current funds, talisman paper seemed to be his only real option—and it offered the best value by far. The return on investment would be more than double. Besides, he had an online friend who crafted talismans and possessed channels to sell finished goods.
Still, for his first time, he shouldn't buy too much, just in case the contact didn't need that large an amount.
With that thought in mind, Chen Zhuo stopped once more before the previous stallkeeper and asked with a cool expression, "How much for the talisman paper?"
Chapter 21